How Do I Find A Good Doctor?

Blog

How Do I Find A Good Doctor?

How Do I Find A Good Doctor?

Certainly not in the yellow pages or from a list that your insurance company publishes. Those don’t tell you anything about the physician to whom you are going to entrust your health and, perhaps, your life.

Be wary of internet rating sites that profess to provide honest feedback about physicians. Every doctor has angry patients who use those websites to “punish” the physician. People who have great experiences with hotels, restaurants, or physicians usually do not go on websites as frequently at those with an axe to grind. Take the websites with a grain of salt. A doctor with numerous, intelligently written negative comments might not be the one you want to choose, but another with mostly good comments and a few bad ones should not be discarded.

You can ask your friends and family, or others in your community and if the same names keep popping up with good comments, you might try them.

Or, finally, you can ask a physician you trust for referrals to other doctors — but be sure and ask where they send their families. Some referral patterns between physicians are a quid pro quo business arrangement — you refer patients to me and I’ll do the same.

And remember, if you are not sure about a doctor, you can book an appointment to find out for yourself if they are a good fit for you. That visit might not be covered by your insurance company so you might have to pay for it, but it could be the wisest investment you ever made!